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Duhaime's Law Dictionary

Black Letter Law Definition:

A principle of law so notorious and entrenched that it is commonly known and rarely disputed.

A basic, settled tenet of law, notorious and well known.

In cases, judges often premise their judgments by statements that a certain principle is "black letter law"; that it is well-known and ought not to be in dispute.

Judges in some jurisdictions, such as Canada or England, prefer the expression that a specified principle is trite law, as in "it is trite law that (a court sitting on judicial review) cannot cannot consider evidence not available to the decision-maker" (Singh v Canada 1997 CanLII 5208, Federal Court of Canada).

Some examples include Justice Aldrich of the US Court of Appeals, 3rd Circuit, in Donald Manter v Davis (543 F 2d 419, 1976):

"It has long been black letter law that personal service within its geographical area establishes a court's personal jurisdiction over the defendant."

Or in Beaulieu v US (865 F 2d 1351, 1989):

"It is black letter law that it is a party's first obligation to seek any relief that might fairly have been thought available in the district court before seeking it on appeal."

Finally, Miller v US Postal Service (825 F 2d 62, 1987):

"It is black letter law that res judicata ... bars all claims that were or could have been advanced in support of the cause of action on the occasion of its former adjudication, ... not merely those that were adjudicated."

If you find an error or omission in Duhaime's Law Dictionary, or if you have suggestion for a legal term, we'd love to hear from you!

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Duhaime Lawisms

Lawyers, I suppose, were children once.
Charles Lamb (1775-1834) in The Old Benchers of the Inner Temple

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Unless otherwise noted, this article was written by Lloyd Duhaime, Barrister, Solicitor, Attorney and Lawyer (and Notary Public!). It is not intended to be legal advice and you would be foolhardy to rely on it in respect to any specific situation you or an acquaintance may be facing. In addition, the law changes rapidly and sometimes with little notice so from time to time, an article may not be up to date. Therefore, this is merely legal information designed to educate the reader. If you have a real situation, this information will serve as a good springboard to get legal advice from a lawyer.